


Horror of Our Love

by QuintessentialCat



Series: Against All Odds [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Good Draco Malfoy, Hogwarts Sixth Year
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-15
Updated: 2016-06-15
Packaged: 2018-07-15 04:04:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7207016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuintessentialCat/pseuds/QuintessentialCat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>We heard Harry Potter's sixth and seventh year from his perspective, but what if there was more to the story?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Horror of Our Love

**Author's Note:**

> This is the sequel to Dark Congregation, but it also works as a stand alone in case you aren't into Dramione fluff. 
> 
> I do not own these characters, story, or anything. I merely am playing with them. J.K. Rowling is the true artist here how gave us a world to play with.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There’s a storm inside my head, and it’s killing all the flowers. – a.k.

Draco stood tall in front of the Dark Lord, who sat in his father’s chair in the sitting room. Two Death Eaters in cloaks flanked his mother at the Dark Lord’s side. Misters Crabbe and Goyle flanked Draco. The light dimly illuminated the pale man with the snake wrapped around his feet. 

His mind trained to blankness, just as Snape taught him. Draco refused to think about all the possible reasons the Dark Lord called him here. Draco thought of grey. 

His mouth felt dry as the air rushed in the open gap. His eyes met the Dark Lord’s, then rushed away, feeling the powerful gaze search him. 

“Why have you called me here today, Sir?” Draco asked, staring at his mother instead. Her face barely contained the distress she clearly felt. Lines filled her face as though gravity weighed every fold of skin separately. 

“Where does your loyalty lie, boy?” Voldemort asked, ignoring Draco’s question. Voldemort’s face, malformed compared to his mother’s elegant looks, bore into Draco. He felt his mind’s barriers pressed from an outside force. His eyes glided to the Dark Lord’s wand, trained on him with ease. Draco knew the Dark Lord intended to poke around without a scene.

“With you and my duty to the Wizarding World to rid it of the muggle-scum that infest it,” Draco recited the creed he heard from his father so many times. The words feel like honey, but inside, the young teenager felt bile rise to his lips at the pressure. 

“Why then have you been practicing Occlumency?” Voldemort asked as his wand flicked away, allowing Draco the relief from the pressure building inside his mind. 

“I felt that I knew too much about you and your plans. I knew that I put the whole plan in danger by being so near Dumbledore unprotected.” Draco came prepared for these questions, aware his Occlumency might raise questions. Why was he in front of Voldemort though? Had Snape betrayed his trust? If that was the case, what was the Dark Lord waiting for by not killing him straight out? Was he going to use Draco was an example?

“Then why protect yourself around me?” Voldemort demanded. Draco looked over at his mother, whose eyes pleaded with him. Pleaded what though?

“Professor Snape informed me that it was best to protect your mind at all times, because you never knew when there would be an enemy nearby.”

“Do you believe there is an enemy nearby?” Voldemort lazily asked, as though just feeding his curiosity. 

“I cannot know, Sir. I know a great deal less than you. I hope you don’t doubt my loyalty. I would be proud to do anything for you and the cause.” More of his father’s words. Voldemort considered his words. Then, he waved a hand.

“Everyone but Bellatrix, Narcissa, and Draco, leave.” The vast room stretched around the four small figures. His aunt, Bellatrix, pulled off her hood, sweeping her wild hair out of her face. Draco tried to remember if he ever met his aunt. He knew her face from the pictures, although the years clearly took the toll on the once beautiful woman. 

“I want to see your loyalty in action, Draco. I believe you have an opportunity to do something more for the cause than anyone else can. Are you prepared to risk your life for me and that cause?” Voldemort asked him. 

“Dark Lord, he is just a boy. He hasn’t even finished his schooling-“ Narcissa started. Voldemort turned to glare at his mother, raising his wand almost imperceptibly. Draco noticed it, however, because he felt key into the movements of that wand. He quickly spoke up.

“My mother is right that I haven’t finished my schooling,” Draco gained Voldemort’s attention. By his look, Voldemort prepared to turn his wand on the youth instead. “But she’s wrong in the assumption that means I can’t help the cause. If you believe there is something I can do to help, I will do whatever it is. I’m glad to prove that some members of this household are of use to you.” Draco added in this last part based on a letter from his mother expressing in code how furious the Dark Lord was with his father. Adrenaline flooded his veins at the sight of his mother in danger. Escape from the situation fell from his mind, and his mother’s safety replaced the empty space. His mother gazed at him with a pitiful expression of distress. He tried to remember ever seeing his mother look so helpless. 

“I’m glad to hear that. Draco, I have one of my most important missions to give you. I ask you again, are you prepared to risk your life for me and our cause?” Voldemort twirled his wand in his hand.

“I’m willing to die.” Draco said, knowing it was exactly what the Dark Lord wanted to hear. He needed to play the part perfectly, because any notion that he disagreed only meant harm to him and/or his mother. 

“Good, because I need you to find a way to kill Dumbledore.” Silence filled the room. Draco simply blinked. Was the Dark Lord making a joke?

Draco glanced over at his mother and aunt, whose ludicrous expressions showed their lack of knowledge. 

“Dark Lord, you can’t possibly give that important of a task to a boy-“

“You can’t! He’ll die!”

“You have so many loyal followers at your disposal-“ 

“Someone else can do it-“

“I could do it, let me do it!”

“Not Draco, not my only son, please anyone else,” Narcissa fell to her knees in front of the Dark Lord as Bellatrix bent as his side, entreating him. 

“Quiet, both of you. How dare you question my orders? I wouldn’t pick the boy if there was anyone better suited for the mission. Now, boy, what do you say?” Voldemort snapped over both women’s tearful pleas. Wet blotches covered Narcissa’s face.

“I would be honored to take on this task,” Draco replied with a grin. He actually felt comforted that he received such a task. Draco knew he needed to decide whether to stay on the side of the pure-bloods or escape to the other side. This resolved all the doubt in Draco’s mind. Not much of a choice when it came right down to it. 

“I am leaving the details up to you. It is very important that you don’t discuss this mission with anyone outside this room. There are many who would wish to thwart you, and if any one of those individuals catch wind of your intent, all will be over,” Voldemort ordered. 

“Dark Lord, please. Can’t anyone else do this?” Narcissa begged again, still on her knees.

“Who else, Narcissa, you? Because there are very few among us who have access to Hogwarts, and even less that would fall below Dumbledore’s suspicion.”

“What about Severus?” Bellatrix asserted eagerly, sure for a split second that Voldemort simply forgot his inside man. 

“I need Severus right where he is. He mustn’t risk causing suspicion,” Voldemort dismissed both women again. 

“I want to do this, Mother. I want to prove my loyalty, to help the cause.” Draco insisted as he saw the Dark Lord’s wand twitch again towards the blonde woman. Voldemort gave Draco an approving nod. 

“Get up, Narcissa, there is still one other matter to attend to,” Voldemort shoved Narcissa out of the way, as he stood up and glided over to where Draco stood. Behind the figure now standing over him, Draco watched as his mother struggled up with the help of her sister. “If you are to take on this mission, it is only appropriate I thank you for you loyalty and have a means of calling you to me. You are now one of my most important supporters.” Voldemort rose his wand. Draco’s heart beat so loudly he barely heard the dark wizard’s voice. “Your left arm.” Draco held it out, his mind rushing too fast to register the scene in front of him.

“Draco Malfoy, do you swear your loyalty to me and the proper magical world order?”

“Yes,” Draco saw books towering next to a figure as she swung her wand. 

“Do you swear to kill Albus Dumbledore to the best of your ability, even if it means your death?” 

“Yes.” A shadow next to him teaching him how little he really knew about the world.

“Do you swear to come when I bid and wear this mark with pride?” 

“Yes.” The expression which said, ‘I believe in you and your goodness,’ blocked out his arm.

“Fide indicium puritati,” Voldemort said. A dark green light shot into Draco’s arm. The next second, the green light gathered, and the Dark Mark ripped deep into his flesh . Draco gasped as pain filled his body and then left in a second. “You now wear the mark of my most loyal followers. Don’t disappoint me, Draco. Those who disappoint me come to regret it.” 

Before Draco even recovered from the pain, the Dark Lord was facing the other way. The words spilling from his lips shook Draco’s legs. His mother twitched on the floor under the wizard’s Cruciatus curse. Frozen to his spot, the curse lasted what felt like hours. Finally, the Dark Lord released the spell. 

“Just remember that more than my trust in you is at stake,” the Dark Lord strode out of the room without ceremony. Draco rushed over to his mother. 

“I told you to not even try to convince the Dark Lord not to ask Draco to do a mission,” Bellatrix helped her sister up. 

“Well, excuse me for losing my resolve to listen to the Dark Lord when I find out he’s sending my only son on a suicide mission.” Draco grabbed her other arm, helping her into the chair just moments ago Lord Voldemort sat in. 

“It doesn’t have to be a suicide mission. I can do this.” Draco told his mother, Accioing some chocolate into his hand. 

“See, Draco is confident, be confident in his abilities,” Bellatrix brushed her sister’s hair away from her sweating forehead. 

“I will not stand by while you endanger your life, Draco,” Narcissa took the chocolate out of her son’s hands. Draco wondered at that moment what anyone could do at this point. He bore the Dark Mark. The Dark Lord meant to see that he completed his task or died trying. If he defected, his escape doomed his mother. 

“There’s nothing you can do. I agreed to this. I willingly took the Dark Mark. I will do what I can for what we believe,” Draco carefully chose words as he spoke. He needed to feel out where his mother stood. She stayed beside his father when the Dark Lord returned and decided to use their mansion as a refuge. In fact, as far as Draco knew, this instance marked the first time his mother went against the Dark Lord and the beliefs he purported. Yet, for all that, the childhood warnings about war rang in his ears. His mother contradicted herself from one moment to the next. 

“Cissy, your son clearly knows what he is getting into. He’s not a child anymore,” Bellatrix held her sister’s hand. 

“Bella, I really don’t need someone who never had children telling me what to do about mine. You can never understand what I am feeling right now. You will never understand.” Narcissa snapped. Bellatrix’s face twitched with anger and hurt at the blonde woman’s words. Draco stood in front of them helplessly, watching as Bellatrix slowly stood up and dropped Narcissa’s hand. 

“Maybe not, but I’ve had plenty of times of knowing what it is to love a child. I know what it is to lose a child, to lose children. But I also know what is most important at this point in time. If I had children, I wouldn’t want them raised in this world. I’d want them raised in the world the Dark Lord can give us.” Bellatrix swept out of the room, her face brightening with tears. 

“Bella-“ Narcissa called out, trying to stand, stumbling. Draco caught her and put her back into the seat.

“You are too weak, you need to rest, Mother,” Draco waved his wand at the double doors to the hallway, closing, locking, and soundproofing them. 

“You can’t try to do this,” Narcissa began to tear up in panic. Right then and there, Draco’s doubt subsided.

“I know I can’t. I don’t intend to try,” Draco told her frankly, beginning to pace the room. Narcissa’s eyes widened at her young son’s voice. His acting completely convinced her moments again. A new person appeared to take hold of his body. 

“Wha-What?” Narcissa stammered out. Her hands lay limply on her lap. Her mouth gaped. 

“I don’t intend to kill one of the greatest wizards alive. I intend to find a way to save the both of us,” Draco stared at a picture on the wall, thinking about how they needed to leave this house. Their home. He saw his mother jerk her head about, as though the Dark Lord heard his words.

“Draco… That’s impossible…” Narcissa said hopelessly. Her head sunk down.

“Mother, we can get help. From Snape. From the Order of the Phoenix. We can get their protection. Dumbledore’s protection,” Draco turned around to look at his mother, who appeared to shrink in her chair. He remembered the promises, the utter assurance he received that the Order could keep him safe. Why not his mother as well?

“Draco… We would never get that far, and even if we did… the Dark Lord would do everything he could to find us back… Then there’s no having him forgive us.” 

“We can go tonight to Snape’s. We can ask for help. He’ll help us get out, I know he will. He can go to Dumbledore. Dumbledore will make sure we are protected. He wouldn’t let anyone die under his care.”

“People already have. Dumbledore can’t be with us all the time, and the Order of the Phoenix would never trust us. They would suspect us, and that’s all it takes for someone to be careless and give us away.” Narcissa gained strength with each word spilling out of her mouth. Her need to protect her son gave her renewed energy. She knew the truth in her words. Did he not realize she considered this option long before? Narcissa saw too many make the fatal mistake of underestimating Lord Voldemort and overestimating Dumbledore’s ability to beat the Dark Lord. She refused to allow her son to do something so careless just as she refused to allow him to take on a suicide mission.

“But-“ Draco began, moving toward his mother. He stopped at her next few words.

“If we run, we die. You will not be able to attend Hogwarts again. So long as this war continues, we would have to remain in hiding, worrying about how close the Dark Lord was to finding us. We would likely have to live among muggles, hiding everything we are. We would lose everything that we own. Then, if the Dark Lord wins, we die. If the Dark Lord loses, well, we’ll be lucky to see that day. Once the Dark Lord decides to kill someone, he finds a way. Only two people have survived when he’s set his sights on them. One is Albus Dumbledore, and he is much stronger than either of us. The other is Harry Potter, and a prophecy that has now been destroyed might have explained how that happened. We are neither of those people. I wish it wasn’t true. I wish I could take you far away and assure your safety, but this is the only side of the war for us. This is the safest place, and we belong here. We believe in the Dark Lord’s mission.” Narcissa reminded him. While she spoke, she stood up bringing herself to her full height in front of her son. Despite his height advantage, he felt like a child again under his mother’s gaze. 

As she spoke, memories flew in and out of his mind. His mother’s warnings constant and steady throughout his youth, about the powers of the Dark Lord, about the danger of making the wrong enemies, about knowing where is the right place to be at all times. Every time his father boasted about the glory days, his mother followed with warnings about how to survive those days. 

His mother suddenly pulled him into a tight hug. 

“I swear, Draco, I will save you.” Then she rustled out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you missed me mentioning it in the last part, all my chapter titles are from songs. Sometimes they help refocus me, sometimes I think the title just fits what I need to display. 
> 
> I have three chapters drafted past this one, but I need to heavily revise. Since I started this series I've gained a million new ideas and would like to see if I can execute them. 
> 
> If you ever have any thoughts, concerns, or comments, please comment! I love to see what you have to say!


End file.
